


That Time of Year

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, In Universe, Sorta kinda, i just wanted to write some fluff, idk when this takes place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 20:19:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9014017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: A Christmas with friends is a Christmas well spent.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays!

“Hey Kairi, guess what today is!”

Kairi sighed as she was asked this question for the twelfth year in a row, not counting the three years of her life she didn’t know Sora. And he continued to ask, on the dot, as if she’d suddenly forget one year. His enthusiasm was endearing but it was also maddening. C’mon, she was excited too after all. Didn’t mean she ran around asking people what day it was…

“I don’t know, Sora, you tell me,” she said, deciding to play along. If she didn’t, he’d get all pouty and accuse her of sucking the spirit out of the holiday.

“It’s Christmas!” he immediately shouted, throwing confetti up in the air. She wasn’t even going to ask where it came from. He likely hid it in one of his various pockets. She could bet he’s probably tossed it at a few people by now.

“Sora, it’s Christmas Eve. Today’s not even the day we open presents. Why are you so excited?” she sighed. Honestly, living on an island, the presents were really the only thing to look forward to around Christmas time. It didn’t snow in Destiny, the climate was too warm. The parents didn’t decorate much around the holidays because their festive times usually took place more so in the summer months, and it was considered a waste to go all out for one holiday in winter. Instead, all that money went into gifts and family dinners. And Sora never liked those much either. He and his parents usually ended up joining Kairi’s family, along with Riku’s, for one big dinner at the mayor’s estate. And Kairi’s dad tended to ask both boys…uncomfortable questions about the time they spent with Kairi. Honestly, when she thought about it, no one really liked family dinners at her house all that much.

Yet despite that, Sora’s excitement never truly waned around Christmas time.

“Why not be excited?! It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” he answered. Kairi thanked her lucky stars he didn’t start singing. Not that he was a bad singer, but he got waaay too into it once he got going.

“Yeah, well… It can be wonderful a little quieter, you know,” Kairi sighed again, rubbing at her temple. Sora raised an eyebrow at her lack of enthusiasm.

“What’s got you down?” he asked, lowering his voice at her quip. Kairi shook her head.

“I’m not feeling down. It’s just… You know how Christmas seems to feel a little less exciting as you get older?”

“Nope.”

Figures.

“Kairi, don’t tell me you don’t like Christmas anymore just because we’re getting older,” he said. There was the typical easy grin on his face, as if he didn’t believe her words, but the rest of him seemed to droop a bit at the thought that she might truly not like Christmas anymore. She was quick to correct this.

“No, that’s not it at all! Don’t worry, I still love Christmas. I just… I don’t know. I can’t feel excited about it as much as I used to when we were kids. It’s not the same as those days when we’d run down the stairs, rip open tons of presents and spend the whole rest of the day playing with our new toys. I mean, c’mon, last year my aunt sent me a gift card to the local bookstore and told me to use it to prepare for the next school year. This is the same aunt that bought me the paopu princess playhouse when I was eight. It feels like Christmas doesn’t really mean the same when you’re older,” she confessed. It had been on her mind for a while, really, but she never thought to really get it off her chest. Her parents were always busy and her school friends were never really as close to her as her childhood friends, so she never felt comfortable telling them her thoughts. And who was she to burden Sora and Riku with such things when they had so much else on their plates? But still, it felt nice to tell someone.

Sora seemed not to agree though, judging from the look on his face. He seemed almost confused, his eyebrows knitting together as he stood in contemplation.

“I can’t say I feel the same,” he finally said. Kairi figured he might. Always, without fail, he’d practically carry the holiday cheer with him every year.

But then, he continued.

“It’s not that I don’t get what you’re saying. Yeah, of course everyone’s gonna grow out of those old Christmas traditions. But that doesn’t mean you have to grow out of Christmas. I like it so much because I get to spend it with the best friends anyone could ask for! There doesn’t need to be presents for that!”

Sora’s smile as he said this would have lit the sky if the sun hadn’t beaten him to it first. Kairi found herself easily smiling back.

“You’re right. A Christmas with friends is a Christmas well spent, after all.”

“There you two are!”

And speaking of. Kairi and Sora turned to find Riku jogging towards them, waving an arm. Kairi waved back as Sora bounded over to meet Riku halfway. They both knew what was coming.

“Hey Riku, guess wh—”

“Do _not_ ask me what today is!” Riku interrupted. Clearly he wasn’t nearly as interested in playing along for yet another year.

“Don’t be a party pooper, man,” Sora pouted, reaching into one of his pockets to toss some confetti at Riku. Kairi idly wondered just how many of his pockets were filled with the stuff. Riku simply rolled his eyes as he shook confetti out of his hair.

“You never fail to be overly excited at Christmas. Maybe you can use some of that energy to help me, Tidus, and Wakka out.”

“Uh, sure,” Sora offered, scratching at the back of his head as he usually did when he didn’t really want to do something. But he was too nice to really turn them down. “Might as well. What’s up?”

“We’ve gotta patch one of the boats up so it can make it to the other island. Something’s been eating at the bottom. No holes yet, but it could get bad if we don’t fix it now,” he said. Kairi hummed in question at that. There wasn’t exactly a shortage of boats, so why patch one up when they could use any of the others? And why did it need to make it to the other island? When she voiced these questions to Riku, he simply smiled.

“A few of our parents agreed that we’re all old enough to hold our own Christmas parties, so we decided to get together on the other island again for old time’s sake. As for the boat,” he shrugged, “must be a nostalgia thing. Guess it makes sense. It’s been a while since we were all there at once.”

It occurred to Kairi then that she was not the only one thinking about the change in Christmas spirit. It was nice that her friends wanted to spend that time together, remembering the older days while celebrating the new. This was something she could get behind.

“So, does this mean we don’t have to have dinner at the mayor’s?” Sora asked hopefully.

“Nope. We aren’t getting outta that,” Riku responded, his brow creased in distaste.

Kairi shook her head as Sora and Riku took a moment to console one another in preparation of another awkward Christmas dinner at her house. The uncomfortable questions seemed to get worse as they all got older and she doubted the upcoming party at the other island was going to make it much easier on them. She silently sent them her sympathy as well. As much as she loved her dad, he could be quite the handful.

“Hey, cheer up guys,” she said after they had their moment. She shared another smile with Sora as she thought back to his words.

“No matter what happens this Christmas, we’ll be spending it together!”

And that was what mattered.


End file.
